What we’re about
This is group for technologists in Charlottesville that primarily serves as the hub for some of Charlottesville's most interesting technology events, including beSwarm, beCraft, First Wednesdays, and others.
Contact the organizers if you have any questions!
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Cville AI Explorers (CvAIEx) - July MeetingStudio IX, Charlottesville, VA
Demo Day! We'll have three 20-minute demos from builders in the community with time for questions.
Emily Smith
Founder of Side Nerd, building natural language-first tools to simplify data capture for users who hate technology.Talk: From Translator to Translation Architect: Building a Natural Language Interface for Volunteer Tracking
You know that platform you hate logging in to? What if you didn’t have to? Emily shares how Side Nerd lets users just text instead—no logins, no friction. She’ll break down how they use GPT models, configurable schemas, and AWS serverless infrastructure to deliver app-like functionality via text message. Designed for technophobes and built to scale, the framework supports use cases from volunteer logs to employee feedback and event lead capture.Michael Pfaffenberger
Machine Learning Engineer @ Walmart
Opinionated / Annoying Nerd Who Builds ML/AI Driven SystemsTalk: Code Puppy
Michael got fed up with Cursor and Windsurf flaking out—suspecting they switched to weaker models and broke core features. So he built Code Puppy, an AI coding agent that quickly began writing itself! Along the way, he found powerful coding tricks the big-name agents don’t use. Now Code Puppy has spread by word of mouth, downloaded tens of thousands of times (shoutout to his Walmart crew for making it famous internally). Someday, he hopes to run it 100% locally with his own models—no commercial nonsense.James Kovalenko
Founder and AI Automation Engineer at nurho.tech
Integrated AI into business processes and GPT wrappers; projects include NotepadLLM.com, Chunker.ai, and automated directories.Talk: Perseus.tube: AI-Powered Attic Greek Word Search + Analysis
Perseus.tube is an AI-powered web app for studying Attic Greek. Users can input words in Greek script or Latin transliteration and receive normalized dictionary forms, detailed grammatical analyses (tense, voice, mood, case, number, gender), Proto-Indo-European etymologies, dialectal variations, and semantic field contexts. It provides direct links to the Perseus lexicon, eliminating manual beta code conversion. I’ll discuss how AI integration can produce reliable results and how to overcome related challenges. I’ll also demonstrate how thinking beyond chat interfaces opens up practical use cases.Schedule
5:30 PM — Setup Begins
5:45 PM — (Optional) Book Club Track
6:00 PM — Doors Officially Open
Feel free to bring your own snacks or grab something from nearby eateries.
6:30 PM — Demos & Q&A (Emily, Michael, James)
8:00 PM — Wrap UpOrganizers
Owen Zanzal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenzanzal/
Mike Powers - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-powers-4262033/
Chat with us on Cville Slack #cvilleaiexplorers
If you aren't a member of Cville Slack, DM me your email, and I'll send you an invite.Sponsors
Studio IX
Coworking space in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, designed for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and remote workers.
Studio IX offers a flexible shared office environment with options for open workspaces, dedicated desks, and private offices. The space fosters a collaborative community through weekly events and mixers, featuring a 'warm industrial' atmosphere with ample natural light.
Amenities include high-speed internet, soundproof phone booths, conference rooms, and premium coffee. Studio IX is staffed by a community manager on weekdays and provides 24/7 access for members.
Tours of the space are available; interested individuals can contact them via:- Email: COWORK@STUDIOIX.CO
- Phone: 434.260.3803
- Website: https://www.studioix.co/
